Lake Zurich vs. Libertyville vs. Buffalo Grove (Arlington Heights, Deer Park: renting, townhome)

[csewfava]

Good Evening All,

Is Buffalo Grove a nice place to live? I've been reading through a lot of threads and am noticing most seem to prefer to live outside of BG if they're going to work there. If my husband will be working in BG, how would you compare Libertyville, Lake Zurich and BG? We max out at 450k. We're headed to IL the end of this month for a tour, and will have 2 short days. Sounds like House Hunters (HGTV, anyone???)!

Thanks.

[bobsmith319]

Well, out of those 3 places, I would pick Lake Zurich, it is closer to Buffalo Grove than Libertyville, but it is somewhat far. I wouldn't really mind living in the same place as I worked. So if I were you, try Lake Zurich, and Buffalo Grove.

[nysoccermom]

Originally Posted by csewfava

Good Evening All,

Is Buffalo Grove a nice place to live? I've been reading through a lot of threads and am noticing most seem to prefer to live outside of BG if they're going to work there. If my husband will be working in BG, how would you compare Libertyville, Lake Zurich and BG? We max out at 450k. We're headed to IL the end of this month for a tour, and will have 2 short days. Sounds like House Hunters (HGTV, anyone???)!

Thanks.

Hey, I'm in the same boat and looking for the same areas as yourself. Where are you living now? We are coming from NY. We should talk and get together!

[kilgresak]

Libertyville is real nice, great community and excellent schools. Probably 20 minutes from BG depending on what part of Libertyville you live.

[middle-aged mom]

All three are fine communities.

I would eliminate Libertyville due to otherwise unnecessary fuel costs to commute.

Also within close proximity to BG, is Arlington Heights and Deer Park.

Are you looking for a single family or townhome? Are schools important? How about property taxes?

[IbeDavid]

Originally Posted by csewfava

Good Evening All,

Is Buffalo Grove a nice place to live? I've been reading through a lot of threads and am noticing most seem to prefer to live outside of BG if they're going to work there. If my husband will be working in BG, how would you compare Libertyville, Lake Zurich and BG? We max out at 450k. We're headed to IL the end of this month for a tour, and will have 2 short days. Sounds like House Hunters (HGTV, anyone???)!

Thanks.

REPLY: I live in that area and while Buffalo Grove is a nice town, the traffic is often hectic and backed up. Its a busy town . A plus for BG is, the Park District has alot of activities going on in the summer including regular outdoor concerts at thier Parks . Libertyville is not as hectic, has highly recognized Schools by the State, is a bit fancier area, home resale is better than BG, LZ, and its more cultural. Lake Zurich is a nice area , a growing town , with a little more of a country atmosphere . Id say 'the nicest' all around area of the 3 to live, would be Libertyville but its also a bit more expensive to live there too. All 3 towns are convenient for work travel with major highways nearby and/or running thru the towns. Bear in mind that Lake County has seen a big influx of people moving in over the last 15 years and driving to and from work is often a nightmare ; the roads cannot handle the morning and evening commute adequately . David.

[openspace]

I had a former classmate that moved away from BG- she told me that she didn't like being one of the only houses in her neighborhood with any Christmas decorations.

[openspace]

I ran into a former classmate who told me she moved away from BG because she didn't like "being one of the only homes on her block during the holidays with Christmas decorations". It's prefectly fine for someone that doesn't celebrate Christmas not to put up decorations but you have to ask yourself if you'd be ok with many of your neighbors having a different faith- if that is different than yours

[kirstie707]

We've been renting in the Libertyville area for 6 plus months due to a transfer and inability to sell our home in Maryland. Libertyville is a wonderful town, excellent schools, very family oriented. That being said, we have been house hunting for 6 months in Libertyville and have the same price range as you. We have been extremely hard pressed to find anything close to providing the space we need ( 4 bedroom with an office) without having to sink 100K into the home. I don't know a lot about Buffalo Grove or Lake Zurich, but Libertyville is really expensive.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by kirstie707

We've been renting in the Libertyville area for 6 plus months due to a transfer and inability to sell our home in Maryland. Libertyville is a wonderful town, excellent schools, very family oriented. That being said, we have been house hunting for 6 months in Libertyville and have the same price range as you. We have been extremely hard pressed to find anything close to providing the space we need ( 4 bedroom with an office) without having to sink 100K into the home. I don't know a lot about Buffalo Grove or Lake Zurich, but Libertyville is really expensive.

I think kristie is right on the money, in fact I think that one of those HGTV where "computer enhance" older houses toured some in Libertyville and that was their range/strategy too.

Could be a smart way to go if it won't break your budget OR if you can save 20-30% by doing some of the easier DIY that is another way to $100K worth of improvement with only $70K or so out of pocket...